Background This is the first Egyptian nationwide study for derivation of reference intervals (RIs) for 34 major chemistry analytes. It was conducted as a part of the global initiative by the IFCC Committee on Reference Intervals and Decision Limits (C-RIDL) for establishing country-specific RIs based on a harmonized protocol. Methods 691 apparently healthy volunteers aged ≥18 years were recruited from multiple regions in Egypt. Serum specimens were analyzed in two centers. The harmonization and standardization of test results were achieved by measuring value-assigned serum panel provided by C-RIDL. The RIs were calculated by parametric method. Sources of variation of reference values (RVs) were evaluated by multiple regression analysis. The need for partitioning by sex, age, and region was judged primarily by standard deviation ratio (SDR). Results Gender-specific RIs were required for six analytes including total bilirubin (TBil), aspartate and alanine aminotransferase (AST, ALT). Seven analytes required age-partitioning including glucose and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Regional differences were observed between northern and southern Egypt for direct bilirubin, glucose, and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) with all their RVs lower in southern Egypt. Compared with other collaborating countries, the features of Egyptian RVs were lower HDL-C and TBil and higher TG and C-reactive protein. In addition, BMI showed weak association with most of nutritional markers. These features were shared with two other Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Conclusion The standardized RIs established by this study can be used as common Egyptian RI, except for a few analytes that showed regional differences. Despite high prevalence of obesity among Egyptians, their RVs of nutritional markers are less sensitive to increased BMI, compared to other collaborating countries.

Among many tested enzymes, lipase was found to be the one most affected by schistosomiasis in human serum, where it is increased eightfold. Arylsulfatases A and B and aspartyl protease displayed a significant decrease in the serum, while other enzymes showed a significant increase. ␣-Amylase and Leucine aminopeptidase were significantly increased and arylsulfatase B showed a significant decrease. Arylsulfatase B from a patient's leucocytes did not show either changed kinetic behaviour or temperature-dependent conformational changes. These results indicate that the diminished activity of this enzyme may be attributed to an opposing mechanism of regulation.

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Background: Hypovitaminosis D is one of the hazardous factors for multiple sclerosis (MS) and can be attested by expanding clinical studies. We aimed to study vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms: FokI, BsmI, ApaI, TaqI, and Tru9I genotype; frequency; haplotype structure; and linkage disequilibrium (LD) in MS Egyptian patients. The study was conducted on 50 MS patients and 50 healthy controls of matching age and sex. Alleles and genotype variants of VDR gene SNPs were analyzed by PCR using the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Haplotype and linkage disequilibrium analysis based on the five genetic loci was studied on the detected genotypes. Results: Frequency of FokI genotype (Ff+ff) was significantly higher in healthy controls (50%) compared to MS (28%) (P = 0.03), and "f" allele was significantly associated with the control group (OR = 0.42, CI = 0.26-0.85, P = 0.015). Frequency of ApaI genotype (Aa+aa) was significantly higher in MS (60%) (P = 0.002), and "a" allele was significantly associated with MS cases (OR = 2.47, CI = 1.25-4.88, P = 0.008). TaqI allelic distribution showed significant association of "t" allele with control group (OR = 0.55, CI = 0.31-0.98, P = 0.04). Statistically significant LD was detected between BsmI and ApaI in controls and MS (D' = 0.89 and P < 0.001, and D' = 0.52 and P < 0.001), respectively. Odd ratios of "fAt" and "BAt" were 0.2 (95% CI = 0.06-0.66) and 0.43 (95% CI = 0.19-0.97), respectively, suggesting that MS risk was 5 times and 2.3 times lesser, respectively, for haplotype carriers compared to non-carriers. Conclusion: The study findings suggest that VDR gene variants "f," "A," and "t" alleles as well as VDR gene haplotypes "BAt" and "fAt" may have a protective effect against MS disease in Egyptian population.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility has a strong genetic component. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) across trans-ancestral populations show both common and distinct genetic variants of susceptibility across European and Asian ancestries, while many other ethnic populations remain underexplored. We conducted the first SLE GWAS on Egyptians–an admixed North African/Middle Eastern population–using 537 patients and 883 controls. To identify novel susceptibility loci and replicate previously known loci, we performed imputation-based association analysis with 6,382,276 SNPs while accounting for individual admixture. We validated the association analysis using adaptive permutation tests (n = 109). We identified a novel genome-wide significant locus near IRS1/miR-5702 (Pcorrected = 1.98 × 10−8) and eight novel suggestive loci (Pcorrected &lt; 1.0 × 10−5). We also replicated (Pperm &lt; 0.01) 97 previously known loci with at least one associated nearby SNP, with ITGAM, DEF6-PPARD and IRF5 the top three replicated loci. SNPs correlated (r2 &gt; 0.8) with lead SNPs from four suggestive loci (ARMC9, DIAPH3, IFLDT1, and ENTPD3) were associated with differential gene expression (3.5 × 10−95 &lt; p &lt; 1.0 × 10−2) across diverse tissues. These loci are involved in cellular proliferation and invasion—pathways prominent in lupus and nephritis. Our study highlights the utility of GWAS in an admixed Egyptian population for delineating new genetic associations and for understanding SLE pathogenesis.